“A few miles south of Soledad, the Salinas River drops in close to the hillside bank and runs deep and green.” So begins John Steinbeck’s powerful novel ‘Of Mice and Men’. In the opening paragraph, he writes of the river, the golden foothill slopes, and the strong and rocky Gabilan mountains. In writing these words in 1937, Mr. Steinbeck described the future site of Scheid’s Riverview Vineyard, one of four Sheid Estate vineyards from which fruit is found in today’s superb wine.

Today’s wine caused quite the commotion at our recent tasting panel. We had tasted, and rejected, a string of wines that just didn’t measure up to our standards. Then, along came today’s Scheid Vineyards 2014 Estate Grown Monterey Pinot Noir, and, BOOM! Everybody woke and started singing its praises. This Monterey Pinot is among the best that we’ve featured from this region. We’re totally enamored, Operatives. We guarantee that you’ll love this wine, too.

This Pinot is lighter of color, with bright ruby leading to a vermillion rim. Excellent clarity. The nose opens up nicely with red fruit and toffee. There are also subtle hints of caramel, vanilla and lychee. The palate closely mirrors the nose with dominant flavors of strawberry, cherry, caramel, mocha with an interesting pear nuance. This is a lighter body Pinot and those that appreciate that style will find it particularly approachable. Bright acid keeps the fruit up front. It would be particularly nice with a robust bleu cheese salad with toasted walnuts and apple wedges.

Enjoy!!

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Here’s what the wine press has to say.

90 Points - Matt Kettmann, Wine Enthusiast - “Thyme-laced pomegranate juice aromas, enhanced with baked earth, white pepper and tarragon, makes for an intriguing entry to this bottling. The texture is light and delicate, combining dried garden herbs and buoyant red-fruit flavors, and finishing on clove. This is an easy afternoon sipper.”